Huguette Caland. A Life in a Few Lines

The Reina Sofía Museum is hosting the first major European retrospective of the Lebanese-born artist from 19 February to 25 August. Made up of around 200 works, the exhibition includes drawings, paintings, sculptures, textiles and collages from the places where she lived and developed her extensive career, such as the Middle East, Europe and the United States.

Caland (Beirut, 1931–2019) challenged the aesthetic, sexual and social conventions of her time in both her life and her work.  Her work reveals her exploration of the body, gender, love, belonging, the human condition and ageing.  Along with these concepts, an artist who is deeply connected to community, communication and the idea of home is also revealed, in contrast with the apparent perception of her cosmopolitan rootlessness following her departure from her native city to emigrate to Paris and her subsequent life in Venice Beach (Los Angeles) until her return to Beirut.

The atmosphere in which she lived and the relationships she established in her own country, the Old Continent and the United States provide a context for Huguette Caland's artistic work as a migrant, and help gain a better understanding of her work, which constantly challenged the established conventions. This major retrospective shows the evolution of her work, the visual languages (colours, shapes, bodies, etc.) and written languages (letters, words, etc.) that she used to create work on which she put a very personal stamp.

Image Credit:

• Huguette Caland, Visages, 1979. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Donation by Sandra and Tony Tamer, Anonymous, Xin Zhang, Lonti Ebers and The Modern Women’s Fund, 2021. © Courtesy of Huguette Caland Estate. Photography: © 2025 Digital Image, The Museum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence